Eighteen people are facing nearly 100 charges after the dismantling of a “violent” criminal organized network linked to the towing industry in the Greater Toronto Area, police say.
The arrests represent a major setback for an organization that has instilled fear and violence in the community since 2023, Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said during a June 16 press conference.
The investigation, known as Project Outsource, commenced in July 2024 after a “sharp” increase in violent extortions targeting South Asian business owners, Duraiappah said. The threats included drive-by shootings and arsons designed to instigate fear and convince victims to pay or face more serious consequences.
Police said the goal of Project Outsource was to root out members of the crime group that had extorted hundreds of thousands of dollars from that community, as well as to stop staged collisions used to defraud insurance companies of more than $1 million.
“These individuals and their actions have no place here, and they will be held fully accountable,” Duraiappah said. “Alarmingly, nearly half of those arrested were already on some form of judicial release at the time—once again raising serious concerns about repeat offenders and the urgent need for bail reform.”
Investigators discovered that several suspects associated with towing companies in the GTA were also using threats, assaults, and firearms in a bid to gain control of local towing operations.
Det. Brian Lorette, who led the task force, said the collisions were “fraudulent in every aspect” but didn’t provide specific information about the staged crashes.
“They start at the planning stage. These are collisions that are often happening on our roadways, which obviously have a public safety impact, sometimes including police, ambulance, and fire attending the scene,” he said. “They continue the fraud all the way through the reporting and through the insurance industry to reap the material benefits of the fraud.”
The suspects are allegedly associated with towing companies operating under the names Certified Roadside and Humble Roadside, police said.
Approximately $4.2 million in assets were confiscated during the investigation after 67 search warrants were executed on June 10 across the regions of Peel and York as well as in Caledon and Toronto.
Officers confiscated 18 tow trucks that were “some of the tools” used to carry out their offences, Lorette said. Four luxury personal vehicles, five stolen vehicles, six guns, 586 rounds of ammunition, and two bulletproof vests were also confiscated by investigators.
“We believe the guns and tow trucks seized during this investigation as well as the arrests made will have a significant impact on our region as well as across the GTA and throughout Canada,” Lorette said.
He noted that the investigation is ongoing and further arrests and charges are expected. Seventeen men from Brampton have been charged in connection with the investigation so far, as well as Haleh Javady Torabi, a 37-year-old woman from King City.
The male suspects facing charges are Inderjit Dhami, 38; Paritosh Chopra, 32; Gurbinder Singh, 28; Kulwinder Puri, 25; Parminder Puri, 31; Inderjit Bal, 29; Varun Aul, 31; Ketan Chopra, 30; Norman Tazehkand, 32; Pawandeep Singh, 25; Dipanshu Garg, 24; Rahul Verma, 27; Karan Boparai, 26; Mankirat Boparai, 22; Simar Boparai, 21; Jovan Singh, 23; and Abhinav Bhardwaj, 25.
Three individuals were charged and released to attend court at a later date, while 15 were held for a bail hearing at the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton, police said. Nearly half of the 18 were on a form of judicial release at the time of arrest.
Duraiappah said Project Outsource was conducted with the assistance from the Ontario Provincial Police, Halton Regional Police, York Regional Police, and Toronto Police Service.
